Likely/ ActualDate
Recent and Forthcoming Developments
Autumn 2009
Blacklisting of union members to be outlawed. The Government will prevent the use of blacklists to deny workers employment as a result of their union membership or activities. The Government has the power to introduce regulations to this end under S.3 of the Employment Relations Act 1999. Consultation on the changes can be viewed here.
2010
The Equality Bill, is contained within the DLP Government's Draft Legislative Programme (DLP) 2008/9 and will consolidate existing equality legislation. Details of the content of the proposed Equality Bill were outlined in 'Framework for a Fairer Future - The Equality Bill' including:
The progress of the Bill can be viewed here.
Sick notes to be replaced with 'fit notes', these allow the doctor to indicate whether an employee is fit for some work and suggest actions that could be taken by the employer. The consultation can be viewed here.
April 2010
Six months of maternity leave to be transferable to father. Under the proposals, mothers with maternity leave outstanding in the second six months of a child's life will be able to transfer up to six months of maternity leave to the father. Up to three months of that leave will paid at the same rate as Statutory Maternity Pay if the leave is taken during the mother's 39-week maternity pay period. The Government intends that the law will be in force by April 2010 and will be effective for parents of children due on or after 3 April 2011, to allow employers time to adjust to the measures. Further information can be viewed here.
Right to request training for all employees who have been employed for no fewer than 26 weeks and their employer employess over 250 people. The right will work in a similar way as the right to request flexible working does currently. Consultation on the new right can be viewed here.
19 May 2010
Small employers (those with up to 49 employees in a PAYE scheme) required to file end of tax year payroll returns (forms P14 and P35) online.
Default retirement age to be reviewed. If the DRA is found to be no longer necessary then any changes would not be implemented until 2011 to allow employers to prepare and employees to consider their retirement plans. Further information can be viewed here.
Government to tighten up rules on employing skilled foreign workers. From 2010 all jobs will have to be advertised in a job centre for four weeks before employers look for staff from outside Europe. In addition, overseas workers who want to transfer to the UK base of their company will have to have worked for that company for a year, rather than just six months, prior to the move. The minimum salary which allows a worker to qualify as a skilled worker will also rise from GBP17,000 to GBP20,000. Further information can be viewed here.
Changes to the European Works Councils Directive (No.94/45) the changes aim to increase the use of EWCs and address the lack of certainty currently found in some parts of the Directive. The changes include new definitions of information and consultation, and an obligation that arrangements for informing and consulting employees must be defined and implemented to ensure the effectiveness of the procedure and decision making process. The Government's response to the consultation on the changes can be found here.
April 2011
Right to request training for all employees who have been employed for no fewer than 26 weeks and their employer employess fewer than 250 people. The right will work in a similar way as the right to request flexible working does currently. Consultation on the new right can be viewed here.
October 2011
Agency workers to get equal rights. The Government have indicated that they will give effect to the revised Temporary Agency Workers Directive as soon as possible in the next session of Parliament. The Directive accommodates the arrangement reached by the CBI, TUC and Government that agency workers should receive equal rights after 12 weeks.
More information on the revised Directive can be found here.
2012 onwards
The Pensions Act 2008 introduces automatic enrolment of eligible employees into, and mandatory employer contributions to, qualifying pension schemes. This will be phased in from 2012 over a period of 5 years. The Act also creates new offences, such as wilful failure by an employer to comply with the Act’s automatic enrolment provisions, punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment and/or a fine. A new head of automatic unfair dismissal is created, covering the situation where employees are dismissed as a result of exercising their rights under the Act, or as a result of the employer being prosecuted for an offence under the Act. Workers are also given a new right not to suffer a detriment as a result of enforcing their rights under the Act. The text of the act can be viewed here. The Consultation on the introduction of the new schemes can be viewed here.
by 2013
The Education and Skills Act 2008 obliges employers in England and Wales to release young people for education or training, and check whether a young person is participating in education or training before employing them. The text of the Act can be viewed here.